In LA

One of the free apps in Apple’s new “app store” for iPhone and iPod touch is “wordpress”. Looks like it is not only free, but nice.

Without me ever telling them my idea, they’ve set it up to post a mostly blank blog entry, and then snarf in the entry to extract the blog’s template. The app then uses the captured template to generate an accurate wysiwyg preview so you can evaluate your post before submitting. Nice.

I guess I don’t have to write my own iPhone blogging client now. This one will likely do.

A still of Her Royal Highness Teri Garr¹ from the fantastic film Young Frankenstein

There’s a question that often pops up when people are trying to suss out another person’s interests, ideals, knowledge of history, etc. Something along the lines of “Who are the five world figures, living or dead, with whom you’d most like to sit down and have a conversation over a tray of spam musubi?” I swear every answer to that question I’ve heard from a well-meaning white person includes Nelson Mandela and/or Ghandi. I mean no disrespect to either of those esteemed gentlemen, but with one refreshingly candid interview Teri Garr has knocked them both off of my list.²

An excerpt related to Young Frankenstein:

…it was like when the teacher says to stop laughing, and all you can do is laugh more. Mel would say, “Can we do another take with no laughing?” And we’d say, “We’ll try.” We would laugh at everything. Marty Feldman–God, was he funny. When I went to see the show in New York, I went backstage, and I said, “You’re all doomed.” Because everyone is dead from that movie! Well, not everyone. But Madeline, and Peter Boyle, and Marty. And myself, I have one foot in the grave and one on a banana peel.

She’s recently written an autobiography, entitled Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood³. I plan to check it out.

Technorati Tags: acting, entertainment, film, hollywood, Teri Garr

1. She has multiple sclerosis, and has said she now hates the letters M and S, “and I certainly took the Ms. off the front of my name. I now go as your Royal Highness Teri Garr.” [↩]
2. Honestly, what question have those two figures not already been asked while they shared spam musubi with Abraham Lincoln, the Dalai Lama, Jesus, and Floyd from accounting? [↩]
3. Apparently she wanted to title the book “Does This Wheelchair Make Me Look Fat?” but was dissuaded by the publisher. [↩]

I’m a little behind the times –you’ve all probably seen this already, but I really appreciated this music video. Please note before clicking: as far as music videos go, this one’s on the more violent and disturbing end of the spectrum. And if the imagery doesn’t disturb, you may not find the music easy on the ears, especially if you’re not already keen on the less accessible tracks from France’s Ed Banger Records.

The iconic jackets, the pseudo-documentary feel, the match between the relentless nature of the music and imagery, and the Clockwork-Orange-esque synth notes at the end that may have been the inspiration for the entire video –all resonate for me. It reminds me of the film Man Bites Dog but with no attempt at intelligence, irony, or a point. Just a straightforward and effective cinematic and emotional experience.

There’s a pretty amusing parody of the video available here.